ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XI 695 



BEE CULTURE. 



BEAD BEFOBE POWESHIEK nil mv FABMEBS' INSTITUTE BY J. .1. axiili. 

 DEEP 1UVEB, IOWA. 



The honey bee is, with the possible exception of the silk worm, the 

 most important commercial insect. Although the bee is handled and 

 cared for throughout its life by man, it can hardly be considered a domes- 

 tic animal. A colony of bees in the apiary differs from a colony of wild 

 bees in a tree only in the house they dwell in. The intelligence of a 

 bee is not capable of culture, as one might cultivate the intelligence of a 

 dog or a horse. Bees do wonderful things to provide for their home 

 needs and the care of their young, but they do it all from instinct and 

 not from education. The social habits of bees are greatly to be admired. 

 The family, although very large, numbering many thousands, live to- 

 gether in the utmost harmony. The bee colony is often referred to as 

 a "true commune," where each colony is a single family consisting of 

 one mother and her children. Each colony will oppose to the death the 

 intrusion of neighbors, although the neighbor may be of close blood rela- 

 tion, perhaps first cousins, or even full sisters that left the home but 

 a few weeks previous to start homes of their own. So, between fam- 

 ilies, the bee is not a communist at all. There are many species of ants, 

 which, like the honey bee, live in colonies, but in no case do those 

 social insects permit members of other colonies to enter their homes 

 and disturb the property there collected.. It is altogether probable that 

 the honey bee was on earth gathering nectar and pollen, and cross- 

 fertilizing plants, and caring for its home long before the earth was in 

 condition to be inhabited by human beings. We are also indebted to 

 the honey bee because it stands at the head of its class, thus ranking 

 in the insect world with man in the realm of higher animal life. The 

 honey bee is a true insect and is built upon a very different plan from 

 that of the higher animals with which we come in contact. Bees possess 

 about the same organs of special sense as we find in higher animals, but 

 these organs are built upon very different plans. That the bee can see, 

 taste, smell and feel there can be no doubt. The bee must see and smell, or 

 it would be impossible for it' to go on its long journies in quest of proper 

 material to convert into the honey, which most of us like so well; it must 

 smell, in order to be able to detect the particular flower which gives the 

 rich flavor to its product. It might be well to say that all colors in 

 flowers, as well as all odors, are for the purpose of attracting the bee 

 and other flower-visiting insects, which carry pollen from blossom to 

 blossom for cross-fertilizing. The adult bee lives a few weeks only dur- 

 ing the summer, or working months, but the late-hatched bees live much 

 longer. There are too many phases of bee culture to take up and dis- 

 cuss in one short article, such as the queen bee, the honey dew, etc., which 

 we will leave for some future time. 



